The Raven's tense trailer turns Poe into the next Sherlock Holmes

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Judging by The Raven's first trailer, that's exactly the vibe this John Cusack horror-esque thriller—directed by V for Vendetta's James McTeigue—is going for.

It's not a bad scheme, really: Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes grossed more than $200 million domestically, so why not try and capitalize on the audience's desire to see Victorian chills with '80s actors they like? And if it's centered around a name that's familiar, all the better.

Wait ... you mean you can add Saw-like death traps inspired by classic Poe stories like "The Pit and the Pendulum," too?

I can see exactly how that sort of plot/money mathematics would cause a studio to greenlight a movie like The Raven. When it open on March 9, 2012, we'll be able to see if this is more than the sum of its motivations.